Scuba diving masks typically comprise a rigid frame supporting a transparent lens, or “visor”. A flexible gasket or “skirt”is attached to a perimeter of the frame suitably for resting against a scuba diver's face so as to provide necessary water tightness. In another mask arrangement, the frame is constructed in two parts, the “visor”, in this regard, having two generally symmetrical lens elements. A support strap, joined to either side of the mask, is also provided to ensure a snug fit between the mask and the diver's face.
Additionally, each end of the support strap is provided with a buckle that allows adjustment of the strap's length so as to enable the mask to be adapted to the dimensions of the diver's head. Notably, the buckles may be joined to the sides of either the rigid frame or the “skirt”.
Where the buckles are joined to the sides of the frame, a pair of brackets are provided which lie substantially perpendicular to the plane of the visor. The brackets also face the rear of the mask, and extend rigidly from the mask frame. Consequently, the brackets are aligned with the direction that the ends of the support strap tend to occupy when the mask is worn on the diver's face. The brackets are usually as rigid as the mask frame so that the overall dimensions of the mask increase in a direction generally perpendicular to the plane of the visor. While useful, this mask configuration, upon storage and/or transportation, requires placement of the mask in a container of suitable size and dimensions thereby increasing space requirements and, thus, the cost of transportation. This configuration has also been found problematic for the user, particularly when the mask must be stored.
Where the buckles on the straps are attached directly to the flexible skirt, although the mask's overall dimensions for transportation and/or storage have been found to be of considerably less difficulty for the user, this arrangement has other disadvantages that have lead to its limited use.
First, any strap-tightening by the diver changes the shape of the flexible skirt, causing unavoidable loss of watertightness when tightening of the strap is performed underwater. Second, adjustment of the mask exerts a tensile force or stress on the flexible skirt and, more particularly, where the buckle is attached. After a number of adjustment operations have occurred, this stress causes the skirt to rupture, thereby rendering the mask unusable.